Believe in Me
by everythingfeelslikethemovies
Summary: Jackunzel. This is a re-write of my first fanfiction of the same title-same overall story but with some changes. :) Jack Frost discovers Rapunzel locked away in her tower after 300 years of being alone and helps her escape. But a life-threatening injury stands in the way of the couple and their happily ever after.
1. The First Thing

Darkness. That's the first thing he remembered.

It was dark, it was cold, and he was scared.

The icy water burned against his eyes as he struggled to open them. Deep in his chest, he knew something was wrong. But, as he floated there, he couldn't remember what was wrong. In fact, he couldn't remember anything.

Too numb to struggle, he allowed his eyelids to droop shut again.

He only opened them again when he felt the water moving around him, sending chills all along his body. It was then that he realized the water wasn't moving, he was. Slowly, by some unknown force, he was pulled towards the surface. His eyes widened as the light of the moon came in to view. The ice began to crack away, and he was lifted out of the water.

As he stared at the moon, the fear clutching at his heart was expelled, and he released the breath he had been holding for an eternity.

Gently, he was set back down on the ice.

Jack Frost finally looked away from the moon and down at himself. He touched his chest, feeling the faint heartbeat. He examined his hands, trying to recognize the pale blue fingers. On his third finger, there was a golden ring. He frowned at it, wondering where on earth it had come from.

His attention was immediately diverted to a long shepards crook. He didn't remember seeing it there just moments ago, but clearly he didn't have the greatest memory in general.

Curiosity beckoned him to pick up the staff and examine it in his hands.

Instantly, almost in response to his touch, the grooves of the wood lit up. Jack gasped and dropped it, and it returned to its former un-glowing state.

Although it was still weak, he could feel his heart beating in anticipation.

Jack lifted the staff again, this time prepared for the strange glowing. He gently tapped the end of it to the ice. He marveled at the beautiful spirals of ice that formed along the surface. With a grin, he ran over to the edge of the frozen lake and began to tap against the trees. Just like the ice, the trees were soon covered in the shimmering frost.

Unable to hold in his thrill, Jack began to skate along the ice, twirling and dancing around, sending ice and frost everywhere. He let out a delighted laugh, and he was only slightly surprised by the sound of his own voice.

Just as he began to wonder what else the magical staff could do, a cold breeze picked up, dragging him along and lifting him up into the air. He was launched through the sky, and he only stopped laughing when he crashed into a tree. But he instantly hopped back up with a grin on his face.

From the higher vantage point, he could see a golden light-a sharp contrast to the silvery blue the world had thus far been bathed in.

His smile faded, and his jaw dropped at the sight of golden lanterns floating into the sky.

Something in his chest ached, and he felt a strong urge to find the source of the lights.

Using the wind, he flew towards the lights, only crashing into four (or seven) trees before stumbling across a small village.

At the sight of other people, his elation returned. He ran into the village, calling out greetings to everyone.

When no one seemed to acknowledge him, he frowned but shook it off.

He spotted two girls resting in a haystack. Although he couldn't see eithers face, he began to walk towards them, mentally preparing his questions about where he was. Before he made it to them, the older one stood up and ran inside, carrying the smaller one with her.

"Poor dear," an elderly woman tutted.

Jack raised his eyebrows and looked over at the circle of old ladies. After glancing to see if the girl had returned, he asked, "Why? What happened?"

"They had only just been engaged!" another woman cried.

The older girl returned, but her hands were covering her face, and she was running towards the forest. She ran right past Jack, too fast for him to try to stop her. As she ran off, he noted the fact she wasn't wearing any shoes. Part of him wanted to call after her, jokingly say if she didn't want frostbite she should put on socks, but he noticed he himself was barefoot and had no place to speak.

"You know, I heard they were secretly married," the third woman clucked in an ooh-isn't-that-scandalous voice.

"That only makes it worse."

"Such a tragedy…"

Jack sighed, realizing these were rude women and probably weren't going to talk to him.

A man rose from his seat by the fire and began to walk back to his own home.

Jack quickly ran to get in his way, "Excuse me? Could you tell me where I-"

The man walked right through Jack, passing through him as if through thin air.

"...am?"

Chest suddenly cold and empty, Jack placed his trembling hands against the spot the man had walked through. Trying to stop himself from hyperventilating, he ran over to a cabin and touched the side of it. His hand didn't pass through the wood, so surely he wasn't a ghost…

He looked at his reflection in the window, but the boy with wild blue eyes and messy white hair staring back was a complete stranger.

He looked back at the rest of the villagers and called out weakly, "Hello?"

Not a soul looked up at him.

Tears began to blur his vision. He stumbled back, unsure of what actions to take next.

He looked up at the moon, silently pleading for advice. But there was no response.

Using most of his energy to hold himself together, he began to walk back towards the forest. As he re-entered the darkness, he felt himself go numb again.

As deeply as he wanted someone-anyone-to chase after him, to acknowledge his leaving, he knew with absolute certainty that there was no one who would. From that moment on, he accepted that he would have to carry on alone in the world.

xxx

The darkness was broken by a soft light. Gold surrounded her, enveloping her in a warmth that shooed away the chill in her bones. She opened her eyes just as the light faded away, and she met the cool gaze of an unfamiliar face.

"Hello?" she rasped. Her eyes widened in shock at the sound of her own voice.

"You must be dehydrated," the woman sighed. She grabbed a bucket with a ladle and handed it over, "Here."

She took the bucket and looked down into the water, trying to make out a reflection. A girl with blonde hair and green eyes squinted back up at her. She shook her head and began to drink, realizing how thirsty she was. After she had her fill, she looked back up at the stranger. "Where am I? And… who are you?"

"Well, I'm your Mother," the woman answered, a strangely wistful expression on her face. "And, we're in your room, Rapunzel."

Rapunzel looked around at the blank walls and simple furniture. Nothing about it was familiar. She grasped at a piece of hair that had fallen loose from her bun and asked, "You're… my mother? Why don't I recognize you? What happened to me?"

"Well, Rapunzel, you tried to leave the tower, against my orders. I don't know what your plan was, but I found you unconscious at the base of the tower. It's a miracle no one kidnapped you while you were there, but fortunately I found you first."

"The tower…" I repeated to myself. "Is that where we are?"

"Yes. This is where we have lived your entire life. And you were explicitly forbidden to leave."

"What? Why?"

Her mother hesitated before answering, "You have… a gift."

"That's specific," Rapunzel muttered.

"Don't mumble!" she snapped. At the sight of Rapunzel's shocked expression, she took a deep breath and continued in a more gentle tone, "I'll show you." She un-tucked some hair from behind Rapunzel's ears, allowing the blonde strands to fall in her face. Quietly, she began to sing, "Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine. Make the clock reverse, bring back what once was mine. What once was mine…"

"M-my hair… My hair just glowed!" Rapunzel cried, grasping at the locks as the glow faded away. "Why does my hair glow?"

Her mother sighed, "It has the ability to heal the sick and injured, as well as keep someone alive forever. This is why you must remain in the tower, so no one can use your powers for selfish reasons."

"But why does it glow? This isn't normal, right? What… why did this happen to me?"

"When you were just a toddler, I let you play outside nearly every day, and one day I didn't pay enough attention. You wandered off, and I couldn't find you for hours. When I found you, your hair was blonde and you possessed this new power. I can only assume you were chosen to have this gift for a reason."

Rapunzel forced herself to her feet and stumbled over to the window. The last light of day was just slipping below the horizon, and the increasing darkness was doing little to reassure her.

"I'll… I'll leave you alone for now. If you need anything, I'll just be downstairs."

A tear slipped down Rapunzel's cheek. When she went to wipe it away, she noticed the silver ring on her third finger. She stared at it, examining the simple band. Out of everything, the ring was the only thing that felt familiar at all.

A cold breeze blew in, sending a slight shiver down her spine. She hugged herself tightly.

There were nothing but trees as far as she could see. For some reason, she was expecting there to be a village nearby. Despite the fact she couldn't remember a single thing from before, she felt it in her stomach that never before had she ever been so alone.


	2. Life Begins

"Well that was fun," Jack chuckled. From his perch atop a russian onion, he had the perfect view of all the chaos he had caused. Adults chased after their flying paperwork, children laughed at each other's stuck tongues, and people all ages rubbed their sore bottoms from slipping. Despite their misfortunes, nearly everyone was still smiling. Jack nodded to himself, proud of his work.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted something bright red; someone was hanging up a ribboned wreath. His heart sank. It was the beginning of the Christmas season. That was why everyone was so chipper-it was despite the cold, not because of it.

Jack sighed. Just minutes earlier, he had been tossed out of the North Pole (again) by Phil the Yeti. So much for Christmas spirit. He shrugged it off and called, "Hey wind! Take me home!"

The cold winds increased, whisking him along and carrying him all the way back to Burgess. The snow clouds followed him as usual. Quickly enough, the sleepy little town was blanketed in white. Jack's smile returned at the sight of the snow sparkling in the light of the rising sun.

As always, the wind dropped him off at the frozen lake. Jack stood on the ice for a moment, contemplating how he should spend his day. It was the twenty-first of November, meaning the first day he was officially allowed to bring winter to this side of the globe. Jack didn't actually care about the rules. He brought winter along wherever he was, and he went wherever he pleased; whether or not it was the right season. But it was nice to be free to roam without worrying about running into an angry tree spirit or, MiM forbid, the Easter Bunny.

He didn't realize how lost in thought he was until he heard the voices of kids shouting. He grinned and followed the sound. By accident, the wind followed him too quickly and blew a book out of the hands of a young kid who had been walking and reading.

Jack tilted his head to read the cover: Mysterious Times. He grinned, "Oh, that looks interesting. Good book?"

Before the young boy could properly ignore Jack, two other kids ran up, shouting about the snow day.

"You're welcome!" Jack laughed and bowed. As he watched them walk away, he decided to follow them to see what they had planned for their day off school.

As they walked, the kid reading about mysterious times talked animatedly, gushing to his friends about bigfoot hair samples and DNA, in Michigan!

One of the other boys rolled his eyes, "Here we go again…" and Jack frowned. Part of him wished they could all see him; not because he wanted to be seen, but so he could show the younger boy that _someone_ was interested in what he had to say.

"Jamie! Bring a hat!" Right as the kid looked up, a woman shoved a winter hat on his head, covering his eyes. "You don't want Jack Frost nipping at your nose."

From his perch on the fence, Jack sat up, eyes wide.

"Who's Jack Frost?" Jamie asked with an eyeroll.

"No one honey, it's just an expression," the woman laughed as she walked back into the house.

"Hey!"

As Jamie and his friends walked away, something in Jack's chest tightened. He hopped off the fence and scooped some snow into his hand.

"Who's Jack Frost?" he asked, packing the snow tightly and blowing on it. "I'll show you 'just an expression'." He drew back his arm, snowball in hand, making sure his aim was just right. With a smirk, he launched it.

xxx

"RaPUNZel! Let down your haAIR!"

"Uh… one moment, Mother!" Rapunzel called in response. She inhaled and resumed her battle, yanking on her hair in a desperate attempt to free it from the knotted twist. Earlier, while she had been painting, she had been using her hair to pull herself up to reach wallspace she hadn't painted yet. It was simple, something she did nearly every day. However, this time, her hair had somehow looped around itself and tied into a large knot around a supporting beam.

Pascal, bless his heart, was biting at her hair and attempting to tug it free with all his strength. Yet, even with the mighty chameleons help, the tangles seemed to be triumphing.

"I'm not getting any younger down here!"

"I know," Rapunzel resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Just… give me a second!"

With one final tug, the hair decided to free itself, sending Rapunzel flying backwards. Pascal turned bright yellow and jumped back. She let out a shriek as she crashed into the pots and pans, sending them clattering on the floor.

"Rapunzel? Are you all right?"

She moaned and rubbed her head, "Yeah… I'm just fine!"

After recomposing herself (and glaring at her hair), Rapunzel darted to the window and looped her hair around a hook. With a woosh, the long blonde tresses cascaded down to where Mother Gothel stood at the base of the tower.

"Hello, Mother," Rapunzel smiled as Gothel stepped in through the window. "Welcome home."

"Oh! Good morning, my darling!" Gothel gave Rapunzel a brief hug before dancing over to the mirror to examine her hair for grey strands. In the three hundred years the two had been living in the tower, Gothel had seldom returned from her adventures outside without wrinkles or silver strands streaking her raven hair.

While Gothel was preoccupied with her appearance, Rapunzel sat down by the window. The meadow no longer had the full effect of the four seasons, but there were always slight changes as the outside world changed around it. Since it was nearing Winter, the flowers were beginning to wilt away. Rapunzel wanted to appreciate the colors for as long as she could.

"How was your morning?" Rapunzel asked, slightly distracted by birds flying by.

"Oh my, it was simply dreadful!" Gothel cried.

"Oh?"

"Well, for starters, there was snow everywhere. I just can't stand winter, especially the snow. It makes it so easy to be tracked!" Gothel lamented. "And then! When I was in the marketplace, I thought I overheard some ruffians talking about a girl with magical hair! I was so terrified, I rushed back here as soon as my purchase was complete."

Despite the slight anxiety lurching in her stomach, Rapunzel had to stop herself from sighing. She highly doubted that anyone was actually talking about magic hair. And even if they were, it was impossible for anyone to find the tower. With a weak smile, she reassured her mother, "Well, no one found me. I'm perfectly safe."

"That's good, very good. How was your morning, sweetheart?"

"Well, I got my hair tangled around the-"

"Oh! Speaking of hair! I think I do need you to sing for me before I go out again!" Gothel turned around to look at her daughter, pointing at the three grey curls. "Look at these!"

Under her breath, Rapunzel suggested, "You could always just rip them out."

"Rapunzel. You know that I hate the mumbling."

"Yes, Mother. I'm sorry, I was just… talking to myself."

Mother arched an eyebrow, then nodded.

Rapunzel placed her hair in Gothel's lap and sang, "Flowergleamandglow,letyourpowersshine,maketheclockreverse,bringbackwhatoncewasmine. Healwhathasbeenhurt,changethefate'sdesign,savewhathasbeenlost,bringbackwhatoncewasmine."

Gothel hardly had enough time to brush through the hair before the glow had already subsided.

"Rapunzel!" she cried.

"Mother!"

As badly as she was trying to suppress it, a small smile appeared on Gothel's lips.

She reached out to brush the hair behind Rapunzel's ear, "I'm going out again, in a few minutes. There's still some business I need to take care of."

"What business?"

"Oh nothing," she kissed her forehead.

As she stood and walked over to the kitchen, Rapunzel felt a slight wave of courage build up in her chest. "Mother, do you think you could take-"

"WHAT is THAT?"

"What is what…?"

Gothe; turned, eyes flashing silver, "That painting."

The kitchen wall Rapunzel had been painting was covered in dark night sky blue, with the exception of the bright yellow dotting it.

"It's those floating lights...that I used to watch every winter..."

"I told you those were only stars."

"No, Mother," she shook her head. "They're something else, something special. But they aren't stars, I know it!"

"Wash it off," she warned. Her back was to the window, and her face was shadowed.

"But...why?"

"Don't argue with me, Rapunzel! I said WASH IT OFF!"

Despite the lack of light, Gothel's eyes flashed the color of razors.

"You don't have a good enough reason to make me," Rapunzel replied, wincing at how squeaky her voice was.

"It's something from out there!" she pointed at the window. "And you are not leaving this tower EVER!"

"Why?! There's _nothing_ out there! You have NO reason to be worried for me!" Rapunzel cried, surprising herself. "It's not like anyone remembers there being a little girl with magic hair _three hundred years ago_!"

Gothel's eyes widened in shock and faded back to soft blue gray, "Rapunzel...it's not what you think. If you left this tower, you'd be killed. And I'm not just saying it's a possibility. I'm saying it's a fact."

"I could handle myself out there. I wouldn't be killed," Rapunzel replied, crossing her arms and looking away. "You just don't believe in me."

Gothel placed her hands on Rapunzel's shoulders and forced her to make eye contact, "Rapunzel, listen to me. This really is for your own good."

Before Rapunzel could say anything, Gothel had pulled her into a hug.

"I can't lose you. I love you too much."

"I love you more," she replied sadly, realizing her mother had gotten her way again.

"I love you most."

xxx

"Jack! Jaaaack! Jack?"

The voice echoed all around him, dis-comfortingly familiar.

He looked all around, trying to identify the source of the cries. Finally, Jack decided to just fly. The shouts grew louder, and a tingling of excitement and fear filled his stomach. "Who's there?"

"JACK!"

Finally, a figure came into his view: a young woman with waist-length brown hair, facing away from him.

"Hello?" Jack called. "Are you okay?"

The woman turned around, but it was only Jamie's mom. She furrowed her eyebrows and called out, "Jamie? Jamie!"

Jack's eyes snapped open, and he immediately went tumbling to the ground. He let out a moan as he tried to sit up. He looked around the forest, dazed. Vaguely, he recalled falling asleep in his favorite tree. But now it seemed like he was in an entirely new forest.

"Sleep flying, huh? That's new," he mumbled to himself before using his staff to pull himself to his feet. As he let out another groan of pain (accompanied by joints popping), he began to laugh, "I'm such an old man."

Grinning to himself, he continued to use his staff as if it were a walking cane. With his white hair, he might as well just be an ancient wizard. That, and the fact he was 316 years old.

Feeling a bit lazy, Jack decided to stroll around the woods rather than fly as he normally would. As he looked around, he began to wonder to himself if he _had_ ever actually walked around the woods. He couldn't recall.

The rising sun brought a soft, pale light throughout the forest. With the almost surreal lighting, Jack began to feel as if he were walking straight into a fairy tale.

The deeper he went into the forest, the thicker the brush became. If he was being completely honest, the exterior design and landscaping left much to be desired. Without the leaves, the plants reminded him of the tangled thorns protecting Sleeping Beauty's castle.

 _I guess they don't call it Tanglewood for nothing._

He paused, furrowing his eyebrows as he re-thought his thought. He was in Burgess, not "Tanglewood". He shook his head, wondering where that name had even come from.

As he continued his walk, a strange sensation overcame was like running through waist deep water, or trying to run in a dream while being chased. His legs felt like useless blobs of jello, even though he was standing on them with no issue. He stood still for a moment, trying to figure out the source of the feeling.

He reached out his hand tentatively.

It felt like trying to push two magnets together that didn't attract.

The glowing of his staff seemed to intensify, confirming Jack's suspicion that the air was heavy with magic.

"All right, let's see if this works." He got a firm grip on the staff, causing the blue glow to brighten even further. He waved it through the air and watched as frost spiraled out.

The frost was glowing as it ribboned around in the air. It circled over to a large tree that Jack hadn't really paid attention to before. As the tree was covered in frost, a strange door came into view, one that he was sure wasn't there before. He walked over to it, eyes wide.

After staring at it for a good five minutes, he decided that yes, he was going to open it and see what was behind. With a grin, he opened the door and ducked through.

xxx

The sky was the most perfect shade of blue. It was so bright that it almost hurt to look at, but not enough to stop. Rapunzel imagined if she could reach up and touch the sky, it'd be like running her fingers through cool silk. As she sat by her window, admiring the sky, a cool breeze drifted up, carrying the aroma of flowers and grass to her.

She closed her eyes and pictured in her mind what it would feel like to roll around in the grass, to make a wish on one of the soft, white dandelions. Her chest ached in longing.

Pascal's green scales shifted to a dark blue. He let out a soft sound of comfort and cuddled up against her neck

With a sigh, she pulled her hair over her shoulder and dropped it, allowing it to tumble down and touch the grass, allowing at least part of her to be outside.

xxx

Jack's eyes widened as he was pulled through by a slightly warmer wind.

He planted his feet on the ground, refusing to let the wind push him any further until he could grasp onto what he was seeing before him.

Somehow, he was in a meadow. A lush, green meadow, with a waterfall and running creek. And it was warm. Not warm enough to be uncomfortable, but warm enough that it wasn't going to snow anytime soon.

"Where am I?" he breathed, stepping forward.

Standing tall in the center of the meadow was a stone tower.

Jack squinted at it, wondering why there was a secret tower behind a magical door.

He turned around to look at the door, but there was nothing other than a large stone.

Taking a deep breath, Jack floated over to the base of the tower. He wrinkled his nose as something wispy dropped down and hit him in the face. He pushed it away, spluttering to get it out of his mouth. Once it was in his grasp, he examined the golden material.

"Hair?" he asked, incredulous. "Who… Who needs hair this long?"

He looked up, confirming that the hair indeed stretched all the way to the very top of the tower. He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of the situation.

Since whomever the hair belonged to wouldn't be able to see him anyway, Jack decided there was no harm in floating up to see. After all, it wasn't every day he got the chance to be ignored by someone with seventy feet of hair.

Sitting at the window was a girl, probably around sixteen or seventeen. Her cheek was propped in her hand. She looked up at him, and he saw that she had the most dazzling summer-green eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed in concern, and she sat up.

Jack looked behind him, wondering why she suddenly looked so upset.

His heart skipped a beat.

She was looking at him. At _him._

The two stared at each other in shock for a long moment, before she broke contact.  
She rushed to pull her hair back into the tower. With one final shriek, she slammed the window shutters closed.

"Wait… Wait!"


	3. The Start of Something New

Rapunzel froze. The stranger's voice wasn't nearly as strange as it should've been.

The shutters creaked as he slowly pushed them open. She whirled around, staring him down as she blindly grasped for some kind of defense. Her hand brushed against the handle of a heavy-duty frying pan.

"Hey, hey, hey." His voice was steady and reassuring. He held his free hand out, and he looked her right in the eyes, "I'm not going to hurt you, okay?"

Pointing the frying pan in his direction, she warned, "Don't come any closer!"

For a brief moment, his reassuring expression fell away to raised eyebrows and an unimpressed frown. He inhaled slowly, and held out the long shepherd's crook he was holding. He gently set it down on the floor before kicking it out of his reach. The chill in the air lessened the moment his staff was out of his hands.

Rapunzel eyed the instrument suspiciously.

"So, I put down _my_ potential weapon," he smiled. "Now, it's only fair that you put down yours."

After a long hesitation, Rapunzel set the frying pan back on the table where she had grabbed it from. She looked at him warily, still anxious that he had a secret pair of scissors stashed in the blue pouch on his shirt or in his brown satchel.

The floorboards creaked slightly under his feet as he approached her.

Rapunzel couldn't help but compare the way this boy looked to the warnings her mother had given her. According to her mother, all men had hollow eyes with no remorse, and pointy teeth stained red from the blood of broken hearts. But… this stranger was nothing like that. His smile was lovely, no blood or fangs. And his eyes… they were the exact shade of blue she had always imagined an underwater iceberg would be. They were so beautifully alien, and she couldn't imagine any paint could ever do them justice.

His hair was messy and windswept and white as snow. She had never seen anything like it, not even in her picture books.

The longer she stared, the more her fears melted away. She didn't even flinch as he closed the gap between them to less than a foot of distance.

His eyes were shiny, and his lips were slightly parted in disbelief. Finally, he spoke, "You… you can see me?"

Rapunzel tugged on a strand of hair. "Am I not supposed to be able to?"

He shook his head and flashed his dazzling smile once again.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"Jack Frost," he murmured. He reached up, as if to brush her hair away from her face, but his eyes widened and he quickly retracted his hand.

"How did you find me?"

Jack could only shake his head, unable to form words as he stared at her. He couldn't believe that those big green eyes were actually looking at him. His gaze trailed all around her face, from the tiny-heart shaped freckles dotting her nose to the wispy curls falling across her cheeks.

"How did you find me?" she repeated, a little more forcefully.

He let out a small laugh and shook his head again, trying to pull himself back together. In an attempt to not look like a bumbling fool, he ran his fingers through his hair and answered, "I, I uh- I found the d-door thing. Yeah."

Her nose scrunched up and she looked out the window and mouthed, "Door?"

"So, uh…" he cleared his throat. "What's your name? Or can I just call you blondie?"

"Rapunzel," she corrected. " _Not_ blondie."

Re-gaining his confidence, Jack smirked, "Sure thing, Sunshine."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he could tell she was unsure how.

"Rapunzel! Let down your hair!" a voice interrupted.

Rapunzel froze, then looked at Jack in panic, "You have to hide! Now!"

Not wanting to argue that no, he really didn't need to hide, he instead complied and drifted up to one of the supporting beams where he sat in perfect view of Rapunzel as she wrapped her hair around a hook and dropped it out the window.

"Hello darling," Gothel smiled, kissing Rapunzel's forehead. "I'm making hazelnut soup for dinner, your favorite!"

Out of the corners of her eyes, Rapunzel checked to make sure Jack was hiding, "Thank you Mother!"

After a quick embrace, Gothel strode off to the kitchen to start cooking.

Jack floated down. "Huh, is that really your mom?" he asked.

" _What are you doing_?" Rapunzel mouthed.

"Answer my question first," he shrugged, still speaking out loud.

"Yes," she hissed.

"You two don't look much alike," he mused.

In panic, Rapunzel looked at her mother, expecting her to be screaming and about to chop Jack's head off with a knife. But no, she was humming and chopping parsnips.

"Chill," he laughed. "It's not like she can see me."

Rapunzel looked at him with confusion.

To demonstrate, Jack walked over to Gothel, despite Rapunzel's attempts to grab his arm and stop him. He waved his hand in front of her face. She didn't even flinch.

Rapunzel's head started to ache as she tried processing everything.

"Oh! That reminds me!" Mother turned around. "I also brought you something!"

"Really?"

She smiled and pulled a package wrapped in brown paper from her cloak.

Excitedly, Rapunzel unwrapped it.

It was a book!

An...astronomy book.

"Thank you, Mother," she said, less than excited. She couldn't help but glance up at the ceiling, where she had already charted the stars. How could her mother have already forgotten?

"So it'll show you what stars are," she informed with a proud smile.

"I'll be sure to read all about that," Rapunzel told her as she added it to the bookshelf. In alphabetical order, her books now read: Astronomy, Botany, Cooking, and Geology.

Jack walked over and gave the books a funny look. Then, without explanation, he walked to the window and hopped out.

Rapunzel inhaled sharply, but bit her tongue before she could call out his name.

xxx

"Okay," Jack mused to himself. "What books would Rapunzel want?"

He was standing in a dusty old bookstore where everything was cheap and seemed dipped in sepia. The only one else in the store was a young woman with her nose buried in a book. This was good, because it meant Jack would be able to take books and leave money behind without anyone wondering why there were things floating around.

Considering her other book selections, Rapunzel enjoyed learning. And when he was up "hiding", Jack had noticed a star chart. An extremely detailed star chart. And she had gotten her astronomy book after the fact, so she was clearly smarter than her mother was crediting her with.

Browsing the non-fiction section of the store, Jack pulled out two books: Geography and Biology. With a smirk, he pulled out a book about Meteorology. He felt a hint of excitement as he imagined informing Rapunzel the aspects of weather humans didn't have entirely correct.

Lastly, Jack snatched a green book labeled _Peter Pan_ before setting some of the money he had gathered over the past month on the front desk. With a grin, he flew out of the store, smiling at the thought of returning to Rapunzel.

To his surprise (and delight) Rapunzel perked up at the sight of him at the window. He paused and knocked on the shutters, raising his eyebrows as he asked, "May I come in?"

She nodded and jumped to her feet. "I didn't know if you were going to come back."

"Well, it's not every day I meet a pretty girl who can actually see me," he smirked. "I also wanted to bring you something. It's actually why I left in the first place."

Her eyes widened, "You… brought me something?"

He nodded and pulled the books out of his satchel, "Here."

A smile blossomed on her lips as she scanned the books, "Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

Rapunzel looked up at him, shaking her head in slight confusion, "Why did you do this for me?"

"What can I say? I'm just that nice," he replied, attempting a casual wall-lean. A strange crackling sound prickled his ears, and he turned to see frost spreading up the wall. He cringed and stood back up.

She fidgeted with a long strand of hair, working up the courage to speak again. "So… you're Jack Frost?"

"The one and only."

"Are you… Are you some kind of fairy?"

Despite himself, he snorted, "Well, I don't have wings nor am I four inches tall."

She blushed, "Well, what are you?"

"Well, Blondie, I'm the spirit of winter," he replied, waving his hand through the air to conjure a snowflake. It floated over to her and booped her nose. "Have you ever heard of a snow day? That's all me."

"Of course I've heard of a snow day," she scoffed, crossing her arms and attempting to match his fake swagger.

"Does it ever snow in this meadow?" he asked, observing the still-blossoming flowers.

"It used to," she shrugged. "Just… not anymore."

He frowned and nodded, accepting her vague answer. "Anyway, basically I just ride the wind all across the globe, bringing snowstorms with me. When I'm feeling up to it, I paint their windows with frost." He elected to leave out the part where they grumbled and scraped off his hard work in the mornings. "What's your story? Did you just want to get off the grid and reconnect with your soul and nature or something?"

She stared at him with wide eyes. "I… I have no idea what you just said."

He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck, "Sorry. I'm just… It was actually kind of hard to find this place again."

"Well, that is the point," she tried to laugh, fidgeting with her hair. "I'm… I'm really glad you managed."

He smiled, leaning his head against his staff. "Me too."

"Why couldn't my mother see you? Are you actually ghost?"

His confidence flickered for a brief moment, unable to mask his pained expression. He shrugged, and his smile returned as he answered, "No. I am not a ghost. I'm just invisible to most adults."

After a long silence, she looked at him, something strange flickering in her green eyes. "Can… Can I touch you?"

His eyes widened, and he jumped backwards, the wind picking him up and carrying him up to the top of her closet. "W-what do you mean? Why?"

"I… I just… I want to make sure I'm not just imagining you," she stuttered, shaken up by his knee-jerk response. "It's okay if you don't want me to… I'm sorry."

He stared at her for a long moment, eyes still wide and afraid. Slowly, he floated back to the ground and nodded.

Tentatively, she stepped closer to him. The air seemed to drop in temperature as she neared him, but she ignored it for the time being. With her trembling hand, she reached up to touch his face. Even his skin was cold to the touch, but it was undeniably solid. She let out a small sigh as she continued to rub her thumb against his cheek, temporarily forgetting the situation.

Jack's heart was beating faster than it ever had before. A strange feeling welled up in his stomach before rising to his chest. While he didn't dislike the feeling of her touching his cheek, making contact with another living being was sending waves of panic throughout his body. Although he tried to take steady breaths to calm down, he found himself starting to hyperventilate.

Finally, she snapped out of her trance and noticed the tears welling up in his eyes and the way his breathing was shallow and quick. She quickly snatched her hand away, "I'm sorry!"

He blinked quickly and stepped away from her, his back pressing against the wall. In a strained voice, he whispered, "It's fine." Noticing her anxious expression, he forced a smile, "Your hand is really warm, I thought you were going to melt me!"

"Is that possible?" she gasped.

He laughed, "No. I hope not, at least."

She giggled.

"I suppose there are worse ways to go," he shrugged. His heart was beginning to slow back to its weak pace. He glanced at the creature that had climbed onto her shoulder and smirked, "So. Are you going to introduce me to the frog that's been giving me suspicious looks?"


	4. Moments in Time

Jack quickly got into the habit of visiting Rapunzel weekly. He knew exactly when "Mother" Gothel would be away from the tower, and he would plan accordingly. All week, he'd collect small trinkets in his satchel, and on Thursday mornings he'd steal two pastries. Thursday afternoons, he'd show up at the tower at exactly two o'clock.

Thursdays became the only days he could even remember. The rest of the week would go by in a haze as he went through the motions, daydreaming about freckled skin and bright green eyes.

One afternoon, he accidentally showed up early and caught her dancing around with a mop. He laughed at the sight of Pascal sitting atop a sponge, slowly spinning across the shiny ground.

"Jack!"

"Hi, sorry I'm early," he apologized, floating in the window while he looked for a dry spot to land.

She pushed back her hair with her elbow. "Oh! It's okay! I was just cleaning up for you."

"For me?" He couldn't help but smile. "You know, you don't have to."

"Well, I want to," she replied, squeezing out the mop into her bucket. "And it, you know, it kills time."

He let out a small laugh, "I understand that."

She looked up at him expectantly, bouncing on her toes.

"Yes? What do you want?" he teased.

"Did you bring anything?" she asked, in a very tiny yet hopeful voice.

He smiled and fished a new book and a telescope out of his satchel. "Here you go."

She beamed. "Thank you!"

"And here," he handed her the napkin-wrapped treat, "Is another strawberry cupcake. Your favorite."

With a small squeal of excitement, she took the pastry from his hands. Her warm fingers brushed up against his, and he snatched his hands away involuntarily. Luckily, she was too busy unwrapping the cupcake to notice. She broke off a piece of the cupcake and handed it to Pascal, who changed his color to match the lavender frosting.

Jack smiled despite himself and ran a hand through his hair. He slowly walked backwards until the tightness in his chest relaxed. "So, what have you been up to this past week?"

"Same as usual," she laughed. "Although, my mother was telling me she's planning on taking a four-day trip next week. So… that'll be different."

"Four-days? Where's she going?"

Rapunzel shrugged, "I don't ask anymore. But… I was thinking maybe you could visit me while she's gone?"

He tilted his head questioningly.

"Like… every day?" Her eyes were darting everywhere other than him. "It just… it gets lonely when she goes on trips. And I know that I am safe as long as I'm here, but it gets harder to feel safe. So, if you were here, then maybe I wouldn't be as nervous."

"Well, you know how busy a schedule I have," he joked. "But, I can try to pencil you in."

After a beat, she giggled. Slowly but surely she was able to distinguish his joking voice from his genuine voice. Her eyes lit up. "Oh! Also, I have something for yo-OU!" She yelped as her foot slid in on the wet stone.

"Hey!" Jack cried. Before she could crash to the ground, he grabbed her by the waist and caught her, accidentally dipping her as if they were dancing. He let out a small laugh of relief. "You… You need to be more careful."

She blushed. "I think I'm plenty careful."

His smile faded as his brain caught up to where he actually was. Her left hand was clasped around the back of his neck, her right clutching at his shoulder. Both of his hands were on her waist, and he could feel a strange tingling just from the contact. He met her gaze with wide, almost scared, eyes.

"Is everything okay?" she asked.

His hands started to shake, and he shook his head before he could stop himself.

"What's wrong?"

Uncomfortably aware of his entire physical being, he gently helped her back to her feet before stepping away from her, stopping only when his back was pressed against the wall. Forcing a laugh, he explained, "I'm… I'm not used to this."

"Used to what?" she asked, eyes full of concern.

"Just… existing? Being present?" he shrugged helplessly. "I don't know."

She clasped her hands together, resisting the strong desire to touch him again, to comfort him.

He yearned to tell her, to admit that he wasn't just invisible to "most adults" but to everyone. He wanted to explain why it was so jarring to be touched and dragged back into reality when he'd spent three centuries flying around and disassociating.

"Jack?" she whispered, scared of the silence hanging in the air.

His staff clattered out of his hand as he sank to the floor. "I'm sorry, Rapunzel. You haven't done anything wrong."

She knelt beside him. "Maybe I don't totally understand what you're feeling, but if there's anything I can do to help, then I want to."

He looked up at her, seeing the genuinity in her eyes. With his still-shaking hand, he reached out and grabbed hers. He interlocked their fingers and closed his eyes, paying attention to the rough pads on her fingertips from playing guitar and the slightly scratchy fingerless gloves she often wore and the gentle warmth that was spreading up his arm. Keeping his eyes closed, he said, "You are helping."

xxx

Jack's heart was fluttering as he approached the tower. He had never been there after dark, and part of him felt like it was scandalous. He rolled his eyes at himself. Just holding her hand put him on the verge of an anxiety attack, it wasn't like anything was going to happen between them.

"Jack!" she chirped, jumping to her feet at the sight of him in the window. Instead of her typical green dress or her slightly fancier purple dress, she was wearing a simple lavender nightgown, and her hair was loose rather than half-tied up.

"Good evening," he smiled. "I brought a few things for us-"

She rushed over to him with a cupcake in hand, holding it out for him to take.

He looked at it, and then back at her in confusion.

"I decided to try baking cupcakes, and I wanted you to try the first one!"

With a slight smirk, he replied, "Did you reverse-engineer the one I left here last week?" She opened her mouth to explain the process, but he had already taken a bite. His eyes widened in delight, "Holy shit, Punz. This was your first batch?"

She nodded, twisting a strand of hair in her fingers.

"It's scary how talented you are," he laughed, finishing the rest of the cupcake in one bite.

"You like it?"

"Of course I do!"

She beamed.

Jack shook his head, laughing to himself. He floated over to the table where she had been sitting before and sat on top. "So, your mom is really going to be gone for four whole days?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Rapunzel shrugged, removing a sleeping Pascal from her shoulder and placing him in a cute little bed near the staircase. "And even if she comes back earlier, she can't see you, right? So it won't be a big deal?"

While he knew Rapunzel's words were entirely innocent, they still struck a nerve in his chest. He gulped and ran a hand through his hair. "Nope, she'll have no idea."

"What's it like being invisible?" she asked, tilting her head curiously.

"W-what do you mean?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. What do you do? How do you know if someone can see you or not? Like, that's gotta be kinda crazy like if you're carrying something and some people see a floating apple but some people see you carrying it."

He cleared his voice a bit and avoided eye contact. "Oh, I don't know. I usually just kind of assume no one can see me, and it seems to work well."

"Oh. So, you don't try to talk to anyone?"

He shook his head. "Why would I?"

"I don't know…"

She continued to speak, but her voice faded away as his mind spiraled. Jack's breath caught in his throat as the memories of being walked through and ignored washed over him, so strong he felt as if it were happening that very moment.

She slipped her hand into his, intertwining their fingers. His heart skipped a beat as he was dragged back to reality. He let out a small sigh and closed his eyes, rubbing her thumb with his. She wasn't wearing her brown gloves, so all he could feel was her warm skin.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded, keeping his eyes shut.

"You know, I was thinking about what you said. How you're struggling to 'be present'? For a while, I think I went through a similar thing," she whispered, squeezing his hand.

"Yeah?" He turned his head and opened his eyes slightly.

"I would just sit around and daydream and pretend I was anywhere else but here. Because being here was too painful," she whispered, closing her eyes. "But, eventually, I realized the daydreaming wasn't helping. That's why I picked up all of these hobbies. I get so focused on what I'm doing that I don't have time to be sad or lonely."

He held his tongue, not wanting to say that he wasn't sure he could fill up three centuries with hobbies. Instead, he replied, "I don't think I'm as talented as you."

Rapunzel stood up, pulling him to his feet as well. "C'mon, I want you to try."

"Try what?" She dragged him up the stairs and past a purple curtain. Jack blushed slightly as he realized it was her bedroom. Just like the rest of the tower, the walls were nearly covered in colorful paintings.

Rapunzel pointed at the ceiling. "There's room up there. I can't reach it safely, so I haven't tried to paint it yet. But… you can fly."

Jack's eyes widened. "Wait, you want me to paint?"

"You said you paint frost on windows," she reminded him with a smirk.

He ran his hand through his hair, "I-I don't know, it's different…"

"Please?"

After a bit of convincing, he took a paintbrush and a palette from her. She squeezed out a selection of colors onto the palette for him, and he floated up to the ceiling.

He inhaled deeply and dipped the brush in the orange paint.

Rapunzel climbed up to meet him, moving slowly so he wouldn't be startled from her presence. When she finally reached a high enough supporting beam, she sat upon it and watched him. She had never seen his hands so steady; when he wasn't holding his staff, his hands would normally shake badly.

His hands were still slightly trembling, however; one of the dashes he was painting became larger than the rest. He inhaled sharply, pursing his lips together as he glared at the mistake.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but eventually, he pulled the brush away from the wall and didn't move to dip it in more paint. He pressed his lips together and viewed his work, scanning for mistakes. He set the paintbrush down and flexed his fingers.

Softly, Rapunzel said, "It's beautiful."

"You think so?" he asked, voice husky and quiet. He looked at her and smiled. Handing her the brush and palette, he looped his arms around her waist and lowered them both back to the ground.

With the added distance, Rapunzel could literally see the bigger picture. His intricate spirals and dashes worked together into one cohesive image: a blazing sun partially eclipsed by a crescent moon. She gasped, "That's incredible, Jack! How…?"

He shrugged and smirked at her. After a beat, he realized his arm was still around her waist and promptly retreated.

"Wait… Jack." She reached out for him, begging with her eyes for him to not run away.

"I understand why you like to paint," he laughed and avoided her gaze.

"Did it make you feel better?" she asked.

He nodded. He finally looked back at her, and his eyebrows furrowed. "Unbelievable."

"What…?"

He stepped closer to her, and he burst into a smile. "You weren't even painting! How did it get on your face?"

"Wait, what?" she gasped, reaching up to touch her cheek. "Where?"

"Right," he dipped his fingers in the yellow paint and booped her on the nose, "There!" He laughed, but then noticed her own devilish smirk. "Wait… don't you dare…"

"Hey, Jack?" she giggled, dipping her fingers in the purple paint. "You have some paint on your face!"

xxx

He finally caught her by the waist, holding her with her arms pinned down so she couldn't fight back. He held her close to his chest and laughed triumphantly, "Ha ha! You have been subdued!"

She wiggled in a desperate attempt at escape to no avail.

He laughed and rested his head against hers. After a pause, his chest began to tighten again. His arms tensed up, tightening his grip around her.

"Hey," she whispered, nuzzling her head against his. "It's okay."

He let her go just enough so she could turn to face him, and then he scooped her back into a hug.

xxx

"This was so much fun," she whispered, rolling onto her side so she could face him.

Later that morning, Gothel would return to the tower. In the meantime, Jack and Rapunzel were having a lazy day lounging in a large fort they had built. Surrounded by pillows and blankets and Rapunzel's hair, Jack had never felt so comfortable in his life. He wondered if this was, in fact, the height of luxury. Looking at the beautiful girl looking up at him with her big, springtime green eyes, he decided that yes it was.

"Y-yeah?"

"I wish you didn't have to leave," she sighed.

"Me too," he admitted. In the past four days, his anxieties had finally started to melt away. The feeling of her lying right against him so longer made his heart pound with desire to run away and hide from her warmth. His heart ached at the thought of leaving the cozy tower and venturing out into the dark, cold world again. He didn't want these feelings to go away, but he knew he could only hold onto them for so long.

She reached up and touched his cheek, pulling his face in closer to hers.

Jack felt her nose brush against his, and the butterflies in his stomach went wild. "I could come back tomorrow," he blurted.

"What?" she asked, pulling back just enough to look him in the eyes.

"I c-could come back," he repeated. "Tomorrow. Instead of only coming on Thursdays."

"Really?" she beamed.

With a slight chuckle, he nodded. "I don't think I can stay away from you for any longer than that."


	5. Wishes

"Look," Jack smiled and nudged her arm. "It's the first star of the night. Make a wish."

Rapunzel looked up to see the small star. She always loved this time of night, when the stars were first starting to poke out as the sky darkened from the bright oranges and pinks to the rich purples and blues.

She also loved when Jack stayed late enough to watch the sunset with her, or sometimes even later to stargaze. He'd always point out silly constellations and tell her the stories behind them, even though she was sure he made all of them up.

She closed her eyes in concentration as she made her wish.

"What'd you wish for?" he asked.

"If you tell a wish, it won't come true."

"But," he booped her nose, "What if it's something that I can get you? Then by not telling me you're preventing the wish from coming true."

"It's nothing you could get for me," she laughed and shook her head. Over the past year, Jack had brought Rapunzel small gifts nearly every day. Anything ranging from books to small foods to a magical device that played music on its own was fair game. "What did _you_ wish for?"

Jack gave her a funny look before imitating her, "If you tell a wish, it won't come true."

Pursing her lips together, she shot a half-hearted glare at him. It quickly dissolved into a smile, and she turned to look back at the stars. "You know, Mother and I used to stargaze all the time. I would draw the constellations, and we'd make wishes every night. But, according to the astronomy book she bought me, almost all of the stars are already burnt out. We just can't tell because the distance is so great, and light only travels so fast. So, wishing on them is pretty much pointless."

Jack looked out at the stars and frowned, considering this information. "I thought that when stars burned out we'd only see the light for like seven more minutes before they blink out."

"That's the sun," Rapunzel corrected him with a smile. She reached up to play with her hair, but Jack swooped in and caught her hand, intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Are you sure about that?"

She nodded, "But the good news is, the sun has yet to go out."

Jack didn't reply.

When she looked up at him, his expression was solemn, and there was a strange glaze over his eyes. "Jack?" She squeezed his hand. "Are you okay?"

He blinked as if woken up from a trance. "Huh? I… yeah. I was just wondering what the moon is going to do when the sun goes out."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing," he shook his head. "Forget it. So, wow. All the stars are dead. Who would've thought."

"Pretty cheerful, right?"

He laughed and nodded.

With a sigh, Rapunzel leaned her head over and rested it on Jack's shoulder. He flinched slightly, but relaxed after a moment. The warmth radiating from her was soothing, and he felt his eyelids drooping slightly. With a small smile, he rested his head against hers and allowed his eyes to fall closed.

"Jack?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"It's been exactly a year since you found my tower."

He opened his eyes and pulled away from her to look her in the eyes. He tilted his head to the side and smiled, "Is that so?"

Grasping at a strand of hair, she nodded. "I… I wasn't going to say anything because I was worried you'd think it was weird I remembered, but…"

"I think it's sweet," he corrected. "Well, I guess Happy Anniversary then." His stomach fluttered at the statement.

"Happy Anniversary!" she repeated with a huge smile.

Jack's expression softened into something Rapunzel didn't recognize, but it made her heart flutter. She noticed him leaning in closer, and part of her wanted to follow his lead. But, after a pause, he looked down and took a step back. In a quiet, almost hoarse voice, he said, "I should probably get going. It's sort of late."

"Yeah… that'd probably be best," she nodded, trying to mask her disappointment.

He stepped up onto the windowsill before turning back to offer her one last smile.

"Goodnight Jack," Rapunzel smiled.

Quietly, he replied, "Goodnight Sunshine."

xxx

Per usual, Jack had returned to the tower an hour or so after Rapunzel woke up. As always, she was waiting near the window, casually flipping through the pages of one of her many books. Pascal rested on her hand, acting as if he were reading too.

"Hey there Pretzel," he flashed a sheepish grin.

She looked up and beamed.

"So, can I ask you a favor?" he asked.

Her eyebrows furrowed. "A favor? What is it?"

"I… kinda tore a hole in my pocket," he admitted. "And-I'm only assuming you know how because you're incredibly talented and amazing at literally anything-I was hoping you could teach me how to fix it."

She gave him a wry grin. "Have you never had to sew anything before?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. "Well, there have been times that I've needed to, but… this is about how good I am at fixing clothes." He raised a leg to show off the strips of fabric tied around the frayed ends of his pants.

"How bad is the hole?" she asked, already standing up to retrieve her sewing kit.

"Well, I can fit my whole hand through it," he replied. He removed his satchel and set it aside before grabbing the hood and pulling it off over his head. He flipped the hoodie inside out, figuring that'd be the easiest way to tell.

Rapunzel's cheeks grew bright pink. She pushed her hair back and tried to look at the hoodie rather than Jack. "This won't be too hard."

Teaching Jack proved to be extremely hard. His fingers shook too badly, and attempting to sew led to several finger injuries. Eventually, Rapunzel took the needles away from him with an exasperated laugh and began to mend it herself.

Not wanting to sit around and wait for her to fix it for him, he decided to help brush her hair-a task he knew for a fact took nearly a half hour.

"Not to be nosy," Jack said, running his fingers through a section of Rapunzel's hair, "But why is your hair this long?"

"Why is your hair so messy?" she snarked, not even glancing up from her mending.

He laughed, "Hey, I think my hair is pretty nice considering I cut it myself. In fact, I bet I could give you a really cute haircut. I think you'd look adorable with a bob."

Rapunzel flinched, hands instinctively grabbing at her blonde locks. "I… Well, I can't cut it! My mother uses it to climb up into the tower."

"You mean _you_ pull her up with it." He rolled his eyes. He gave a pointed look to the brown chameleon resting in his lap, who looked up and nodded in agreement. "And why can't she just take the convenient "secret" stairs? It's not like your hair has been this long since birth, where did she even get this ridiculous idea?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, it's like an extra defense. No one can get into the tower unless I let my hair down for them."

"Unless they can fly," he smirked. She giggled and nodded. After a moment, he asked, "But… why? You're already inside this… secret dimension. I stumbled upon it by chance, but only because I have magic. You're plenty secure."

"I, well… I…" she stuttered, trying to think of any other excuse other than the truth.

Noticing her rising panic, he touched her hand comfortingly. "I'm sorry, I won't pry anymore. I'm sure there's a good reason, but you don't have to tell me unless you want to."

She let out a sigh of relief, "Thank you for understanding."

He smiled, but inwardly he sighed. There was something up with her hair, he could sense it, and he wished she trusted him enough to tell him. Part of him wondered if maybe it was her hair that needed protection from the outside world, not Rapunzel herself, as silly as that thought seemed. But if she wasn't ready to share, he wasn't going to push.

xxx

Jack let out a long sigh as he floated above the woods. Try as he might, he couldn't stop wishing Rapunzel with him, flying through the sky on a romantic flight. However, her absurdly long hair would probably catch on literally everything. Shaking his head, he cut Rapunzel's hair to be waist-length in his imagination, solving that particular issue.

He was so lost in his daydreams he crashed right into a tree. "Santa's holy elves!" he shouted, rubbing his head. Slightly dazed, he fell back and sat down on a branch to recuperate.

When his vision cleared, he noticed two figures in the corner of his eye.

One of the young boys he often would prank and have snowball fights with-Jamie?-and a young blonde girl skipped along the path heading towards the lake.

Jack peered at them, noting the ice skates slung over their shoulders. He furrowed his eyebrows, wondering why they would be wanting to ice skate when it was barely winter. His stomach dropped when he remembered what time of year it actually was. "Wait… no!"

Jumping to his feet, he took of flying as fast as he could manage, not bothering to dodge and weave the branches like normal. He stumbled onto the lake. He winced. The lake was certainly frozen, but not nearly enough that it would safely hold Jamie and his little sister. He had been neglecting his duties, and if anything happened to them it'd be all his fault.

He began to skate around, waving his staff strategically to thicken the ice underneath him.

"C'mon, Soph!" Jamie cried. "We have to be back before sunset!"

Jack's eyes widened.

Sophie giggled and took her brothers hand as he pulled her out onto the lake.

"No, no no no no!" Jack whispered. Even under his own weight, he could feel the ice starting to crack. "Don't skate! It's not cold enough! Please!"

His heart jumped in his chest as the crack deepened, shooting towards the oblivious siblings.

His attempts at repairing it did little to help, and the cracks continued to form.

Jamie finally noticed the cracking ice, and his eyes widened. "Wait, Soph!" He tugged at his little sisters hand, but her poor balance led to her falling over.

Jack gasped as the ice began to crack under the little girl. "No!" He looked around desperately, praying there'd be an adult nearby that could actually help them. When he saw no one, he realized his only option.

Even though he didn't think it'd work, he lunged for the two. He braced himself, expecting the painful sensation of bodies passing through him.

Jamie screamed.

He and Sophie went flying back onto the snow, safely off the cracking ice.

Sophie sniffled and looked up at her older brother, merely upset from the sudden impact rather than her near-death experience.

Jamie pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Soph. It's okay."

Jack let out a choked sigh of relief. He rested his cheek on the ice and took slow breaths to calm down. He knew if he tried to push up, he'd end up cracking the ice even more, potentially falling in. So he waited for a few moments, collecting himself. He opened his eyes for a moment to watch the two children slowly stand and walk away. Jamie cast one last glance approximately where Jack was lying, but it was so brief Jack decided he wasn't actually visible to the boy. He decided that was okay, as long as the two were safe.

xxx

"That settles it," Gothel declared. "We never try to make a cake again."

Rapunzel laughed, "Hey at least you'll be able to get the flour out of your hair in less than a week!"

Gothel pulled at a few strands of her flour coated curly hair, "Unlikely."

The cake in question somehow exploded, coating the pair in a weird flour/sugar mixture.

"I'm going to change and bring out some washcloths," she announced. "You go change too."

A half hour later, Rapunzel still had flour in her hair, but at least overall she and her mother were cleaned up.

"Let's see...are there any games you AREN'T a complete expert at?" Gothel asked, assessing the game inventory.

"Of course not," Rapunzel replied.

"All right, which game would I have a chance at?" Gothel rephrased.

Rapunzel smiled and stood on tiptoe to pull down the chess board, "You may be able to beat me at this."

Of course, Gothel stood no chance.

"You've got every possible strategy memorized!" she cried. "You're an expert at all of these games!"

"It's not like I have much else to do," Rapunzel replied quietly, setting the pieces back into their proper place.

Mother Gothel opened her mouth to reply, then shut it and looked away, eyebrows furrowed. They sat in silence for a few minutes, until finally she spoke. "Rapunzel...I'm sorry," she said. "If there was any possible way you could be safe out there, I swear you'd never see this tower again."

Rapunzel's breath caught in her throat.

"This really is for your own good," she continued, reaching over the table to touch Rapunzel's cheek. Her expression was solemn. Despite everything, there was a truth in her words that Rapunzel just couldn't understand.

xxx

Her hips swayed to imaginary music when she cooked. It was something Jack had noticed after approximately two weeks of knowing her, and he hoped she never stopped. He could feel himself grinning like an idiot while he watched her, but how was he supposed to stop?

Watching her dance was distracting him from the game of chess they had been playing.

Rapunzel had abandoned the game and started cooking dinner, claiming Jack was taking too long to make his move. But no matter how long he stared at the pieces, he couldn't figure out what move to make.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Rapunzel asked, cheeks flushing. Her hands darted to her hair and then her dress.

"Oh, nothing." Jack rubbed the back of his neck and grinned.

She drifted back over to him and glanced at the game. "Have you still not played?"

"Excuse me," he protested. "I only ever claimed to be good at checkers."

She laughed and leaned over his shoulder. He shivered slightly as a loose strand of her hair brushed against his face. "This is your best move," she informed him, moving his white knight to guard the king.

"Wait, what? Are you sure?" Jack asked, staring at the pieces and trying to understand why that was the best move.

In one swift motion, Rapunzel took her black queen and knocked over his knight. She grinned and whispered, "Check" before affectionately bumping her head against his.

"Wait, what?" Jack repeated.

"It's not a full checkmate yet," she giggled. "You could still win."

"Oh, yeah. I'm finally going to win when all I have is a rook and a queen."

"Don't underestimate any of your pieces," Rapunzel reminded him, floating back into the kitchen to take the pie out of the oven.

"Okay, I demand a rematch. We're starting over!"

"Oh? Do you think sending your pawn after my king is going to work the second time around?" she teased him.

Jack flumbled over his words before settling on, "Well, chess is stupid anyway!"

She shook her head and giggled.

He stood up and walked over to her, resisting the temptation to wrap his arms around her waist and hold her close. "Do you have any cookies?"

"No, you ate them all," Rapunzel replied, not looking up from the carrots she was slicing.

"Oops, I forgot."

She looked up at him, still smiling, and his heart fluttered.

"You're so beautiful."

Her expression faltered, "What?"

Jack's eyes widened as he realized he had spoken aloud. "Wait, I meant… I mean, not that you aren't beautiful, you are, but I didn't mean to… to actually… Wow I'm so sorry." He looked around desperately for some sort of escape, but all he could see was the window. He glanced down at his feet and noticed the frost spiraling from his toes and covering the ground.

Her face had turned bright red, but her expression was otherwise unreadable.

"Wow, wow," he laughed, backing away slowly. "I just remembered that I have to go… I have a thing that I have to do, and I totally forgot until this exact moment. I'll see you later, Cutie, I mean Blondie, I mean Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel giggled as Jack launched himself out the window. She ran over to it to watch him float away on the wind.

He smiled at the sight of her in the window, and gave her one last wave.

 **a quick A/N:**

 **Amaya-chan07: thank you for reviewing! I'm really glad you like it!**

 **ROTBTDreader: the fact that you read my old fic and now you're reading this one made me so incredibly happy ^_^ thank you so much! I hope you continue to enjoy the re-write!**


	6. Trapped by Fear

The full moon illuminated the tower in a soft, silvery glow that perfectly matched the gentle music Jack had selected.

Rapunzel giggled as he pulled her so her back was against his chest and his arms were around her. She twirled away, making sure to hop over her hair to avoid tripping. He grabbed her by the waist and spun her around in the air, and her heart began to race. When he set her back down, the song began to decrescendo. When the next song began, Jack merely rested his forehead on hers and intertwined their fingers.

"I love..." he whispered, "I love dancing with you."

"Even when my hair trips you?"

"Even then," he laughed, reaching with his free hand to push her hair out of her face. He kept his hand near her cheek for a brief moment, but he quickly withdrew it. He lifted his head and stepped back from her, turning to change the music. "It's getting late, do you want me to get out of here?"

From Pascal's perch atop the music speaker, the chameleon glared at Jack and nodded.

"Noted," Jack whispered to the reptile.

"Well... No, not really." She tugged on her hair and offered a sheepish smile.

He fought back a smile and nodded. "Well, you need to get some sleep eventually."

"Maybe I could just get in my bed, and you can stay until I actually fall asleep?" she suggested.

A few minutes later, Rapunzel was snuggled up under her three blankets and Jack was sitting on the ground, leaning against her bed.

"...and so the little boy made an offer with the beast. If he brought the beast the ingredients for his lantern oil, the beast would show him the way out. The beast asked for a spool of silver thread, a golden comb, and the sun itself."

Rapunzel opened her droopy eyelids. "The sun? How is a little boy supposed to..." She yawned. "How's he s'pose to do that?"

"Well, he set a little cup on a tree stump, and as the sun set, it descended into the cup," Jack explained with a smile.

"Ohh," she nodded. "So then he gets to go home?"

Jack laughed, "Of course." He noticed how her eyes were staying closed longer and longer. "I think it's time for me to leave, is that okay?"

She sighed. "I wish you didn't have to."

"I know."

"I wish I could go with you, sometimes," she admitted.

Jack paused. "Really?"

She nodded, but kept her eyes shut. "You should just take me with you some day."

"We'll talk about it when you're actually awake," he teased, booping her nose. "But I promise if you ever want to leave the tower, I will take you anywhere you want. Anywhere in the entire world."

xxx

"What do you think, Pascal?" Rapunzel whispered.

Pascal nodded eagerly.

"Only for a few minutes," she reminded him. The ache in her stomach only seemed to grow worse every moment she waited. "Just… just to get used to it." She looped her hair around the hook and let the rest tumble to the ground. Her heart skipped a bit as she peered down at it. "Here it goes…"

Her stomach flipped as she cascaded down, hair sliding between her hands rapidly. She laughed in delight, until she realized how close the ground was. She gripped her hair tightly, coming to an abrupt halt right before reaching the earth.

The grass tickled her toes as she took her first step on the ground. Now that she could look at it up close, she noticed the tiny dewdrops painted across the green blades, sparkling in the early morning light. She let out a small sigh and giggled, falling to her knees to run her hands through the damp dirt. "I… I can't believe I did this…"

Pascal chirped in delight, crawling down her arm to nuzzle up against the ground as well, shifting his normal color to match the entirely-different shade of grass.

Rapunzel balled up her fists in excitement, letting out a small squeal of excitement. "Pascal… Pascal! We did it!" she cried, picking him up again and smiling. She stood up and spun around, looking at the meadow. The perspective was completely different, and it was like she was in a whole new world.

A week ago, she had finally admitted how badly she wanted to go to see the floating lights. This had led to daily discussions about leaving the tower, about taking small steps towards feeling comfortable outside. She could only imagine what Jack would say at the sight of her taking her first small step.

"Looking for something?"

Rapunzel jumped, and she looked around to find the source of the voice.

"You won't find it down here."

The clouds in the sky darkened, covering the meadow in shadows.

Voice trembling, she asked, "W-who's there?"

The voice snickered. "Don't you remember me? I'm a little disappointed you've forgotten. Don't tell me you don't believe in me anymore?"

Rapunzel's eyes widened. "The Boogeyman? No! You aren't real!" Shivers ran up and down her spine. She found herself walking backwards, pressing herself up against the tower.

"Maybe not. But you know what is real? Ruffians and thugs, cannibals and snakes. Everything you've ever been warned of by your mother. Did you think she was lying to you all these years? You should be very, very afraid of what lies beyond the meadow."

"Just because those things could be real doesn't mean good things aren't out there too," she replied, though her confidence began to fade with every passing moment.

"But, you see, many of those so-called-good-things are merely evil in disguise," the voice crooned. "People are selfish and cruel. Any light you try to bring into the world will be snuffed out in an instant."

She shook her head. "No… I believe in Jack. He says the world is good, and I believe him."

"Jack?" the voice cackled. "You don't mean Jack Frost, do you?"

Rapunzel faltered, and looked down at Pascal for reassurance. The poor chameleon was bright yellow in fear. She noticed something white slithering along in the grass. She gasped when she realized it was a snake, the same one that had nearly killed Pascal. She cupped the chameleon in her hands protectively, but her heart began to race as she realized she had no protection for herself.

"He's as selfish as they come. He only cares about you because you're the first person who can see him. And you can only see him because you're becoming selfish too; just a little brat who wants the world and thinks that some ghost is going to be able to give it to her."

 _The first person...?_

"The real sad thing is he's only been so insistent on you leaving the tower lately is because he's getting bored of visiting you!"

"What? No! That's not true!" she argued, snapping back to where she was. Jack had only started suggesting her leaving _after_ she had confessed her dream of seeing the lights… Right? She furrowed her eyebrows, trying to remember when he had first brought it up. Had she only told him about the lanterns after he had started to pester her about leaving…?

"You might want to re-evaluate things. It could save you the later heartbreak," he suggested. "After all, there have been warning signs all along. The strange sense of familiarity with Jack? It's just like when you and I first met."

Rapunzel froze.

"Jack and I are the same, you see. And only I know the evils he's capable of. You just can't see it yet."

The air chilled and the winds began to bite at Rapunzel. For the first time in over a century, snow began to fall in the meadow.

She shook her head and closed her eyes, trying to rationalize it. "What do you know? This is just a bad dream. You've only ever been in my dreams, and you aren't real."

"Dreams are a very powerful thing, my dear."

She felt a tingle on the back of her neck, and she snapped her eyes open.

The boogeyman finally emerged, wearing Jack's face and smirking. He grabbed Rapunzel by the chin and whispered, "You will never leave this tower again, is that understood?"

Rapunzel whimpered and nodded, pulling her head away to avoid his piercing stare.

He reached down and ran his pale fingers through her hair. It began to glow in response to his touch.

"Please, don't…" she sobbed, feeling her body grow cold in response to his touch.

"Don't worry, it's just to help you sleep."

Despite her best efforts to keep her eyes open, she collapsed into the boogeyman's arms.

She woke with a start, finding herself lying on the floor by her window. She sat up and touched her hair, running her fingers through the golden locks.

"Pascal?" she whispered, nudging the darkly colored chameleon awake.

He looked up at her with a weary expression. He crawled into her hand before curling up and falling back asleep.

"I'm so sorry, Pascal." She hugged herself and hung her head. "I'll never put you in danger like that again."

xxx

She wasn't waiting by the window for him. Jack's stomach sank, but he shook his head quickly. There had been a few occasions where she had been under the weather, and remained in bed rather than wait for him. Or, sometimes after particularly bad fights with Gothel, she'd be hiding in her room.

He floated up the stairs and pushed back the curtain to her room. "Hey, Rapunzel," he called in a soft voice.

She was lying in her bed, but on top of the covers. She rolled over and looked at him, offering a tentative smile.

"Are you okay?" he asked, floating over before resting on the floor in front of her.

"I just didn't sleep very well," she shrugged, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "It's not a big deal."

"I'm sorry to hear about that." He frowned sympathetically. He briefly reached out to touch her hand comfortingly, but decided against it and pulled his hand back. "Well, I brought you a gift. Do you think that might cheer you up?"

Despite herself, her smile grew. "You know you don't have to bring me gifts all the time."

"I love bringing you gifts," he argued with a grin. Carefully, he unwrapped the fragile gift and handed it to her.

"What is this?" she asked, tilting the glass object. To her surprise, and delight, small yellow and purple sparkles erupted in the glass ball, swirling around the lanterns inside.

"It's a snowglobe," he replied, smiling at her reaction. "You can get them with anything inside, really. I thought about getting you one with a me inside, but I couldn't find anyone willing to take my picture," he joked. "I also figured you'd like this one more."

She smiled, but her hands began to tremble the longer she looked at the lanterns inside.

"So, Rapunzel." Jack floated off the ground to sit criss-cross applesauce on her bed. "I have an idea, and I wanted your input."

"What's your idea?" she asked.

"Well, as you probably know, the Festival of Lanterns is happening soon. Like, the end of this month."

Rapunzel's expression hardened slightly. In a colder tone, she replied, "I know. What about it?"

"I was just thinking… I don't know. You mentioned how you've always really wanted to go, and we were kinda joking about it? Like, haha what if I snuck you out?" he shrugged and half-grinned. "But, if you wanted, I _could_ help sneak you out of the tower and take you. Like… for real."

Her eyes widened, and she looked up at him with an unreadable expression.

"I just… I know how much the lanterns meant to you, and I thought maybe it'd be nice to have one night away from the tower… "

She winced. "I can't disobey my mother like that. I promised her I wouldn't even ask to leave again."

"Then… don't ask?" Jack's heart quickened at her tone. "I mean, that's sorta the definition of the word sneaking."

"I can't do that to her," she whispered, tugging harshly on a strand of hair.

Something was off with her. He felt like he was playing jenga with a priceless glass bird sitting at the very top of the tower. One false move and he'd shatter her. He tried to keep his voice as low as possible, and his arguments gentle. "It'd just be one night, and you'd be with me. You know I'd do anything to keep you safe."

She sighed. "I don't know if it's worth the risk."

He wrinkled his nose. "Rapunzel, I thought you wanted to see the lanterns more than anything."

She stood up from the bed and strode over to the mirror to tie up her hair. "It was just a silly dream."

Jack frowned. He didn't know where this strange, sad Rapunzel had come from. He jumped up and floated over to her. After hesitating a moment, he touched her shoulder comfortingly. "What's wrong?"

"Seeing the lanterns isn't going to change anything." She shrugged him off and began to walk away. He followed her as she left her room and began to descend the stairs. "The tower is the only place I'll ever be safe."

He floated to the bottom of the stairs, blocking her path. His stomach lurched, part of him expecting her to walk right through him. He let out a small sigh of relief when she stopped walking. "Look at me, Rapunzel."

Her normally cheerful eyes were the color of dying grass.

"Where did this come from?" he asked, touching a shaky hand to her cheek. "Why don't you want to leave anymore?"

"I do want to leave," she replied, softly. "I'm… I'm just not ready yet."

"But you are," he argued. "I know it's scary. But I think you can handle yourself out there. You're way more ready than you think."

"You don't get to decide when I'm ready." Rapunzel crossed her arms and turned away from him.

Unable to help himself, Jack rolled his eyes and scoffed, "And Gothel does?"

Her cheeks burned with fury, and she whipped back around. "Excuse me?"

Despite the way his heart was thudding from guilt, Jack managed to keep his voice steady as he replied, "I'm not asking you to leave with me because I think I know what's best for you. I'm asking you to leave because I believe in you and I believe that you're ready to leave. Your "mother" on the other hand-"

"Don't talk about my mother! She loves me! She just wants to protect me!"

"You? Or your hair?"

Instinctively, Rapunzel grasped at a lock of her hair. Her bottom lip began to tremble. "I'm the first person you've ever spoken to! How could you know anything about love?"

Jack was fighting to keep his tears from all spilling out. Finally, he managed to speak, "I'm sorry. I don't understand the situation well enough. I thought that after seventeen years alone up here, maybe you'd be tired of hiding. But I was wrong, and I'm sorry."

"Jack, I-"

"No, I overstepped my boundaries." He stepped away from her, avoiding eye contact. Taking another shaky breath, he grabbed his staff and walked over to the window.

The cold air that accompanied his powers only added to the ache in her chest as she watched him prepare to leave. Realizing he was hesitating, she whispered, "Please don't go…"

He shook his head, "I'm sorry."

xxx

The snow was much heavier than it had been the past month.

 _The lake is probably completely frozen finally._

Jack rested his head against the trunk of the tree. His tears had shed a while ago, and the tear tracks had frozen to his cheeks.

All he could picture was her sitting beside him on the branch, beaming as the lanterns filled the night sky.

He had a crystal clear vision of the night, and now it had been shattered.

"She doesn't love you," a voice whispered. "And she will never love you enough to leave the tower for you."

Jack sat up and looked around, trying to identify the voice. But no one was there.

xxx

Rapunzel sat up straight and gasped. She pushed back her slightly sweaty hair and took deep breaths, trying to steady her heart.

She pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead and closed her eyes, taking in shaky breaths.

Every night since Jack left, Rapunzel's sleep had been plagued with nightmares.

"Mom?"

Gothel glanced up from her mending, "Yes Rapunzel?"

"Can..." Rapunzel walked over to the side of her bed. "Can I sleep here tonight?"

"Rapunzel," she scolded. "You're three hundred and seventeen."

She hugged herself, "I know but...I had a nightmare."

A hint of fear flashed in Gothel's eyes. She nodded and moved over so she wasn't lying on the very middle of her queen sized bed.

"Thank you."

"Do you want to talk about your nightmare?" she asked. Whenever Rapunzel first started having nightmares, she would tell her mother everything, and Gothel would reassure her that she wasn't going to be trapped in a cavern filling with water or be chased by ruffians trying to cut her hair, not as long as she stayed in the tower.

"No," Rapunzel shook her head. "I just don't want to be in my room by myself.

She nodded, "All right, goodnight."

Something clattered in the kitchen, making both the women jump.

"I'm sure the wind just knocked something over," Gothel sighed. "I'll be right back, just go ahead and lie down. Do you want warm milk?"

Rapunzel nodded, "Thank you Mother."

"You're very welcome."


	7. Leap of Faith

The wind was extra harsh and biting. Heavy snowflakes were flying in all directions. Ice coated every surface, even the ones that had been pre-treated with salt.

Jack hardly noticed. He tiptoed along the powerlines just as easily as any other night.

"Maybe I need to just stop seeing her," Jack spoke aloud. "I mean, what's the point? Every time I go back, it just gets harder to leave. But I can't stay in the tower forever, and she shouldn't either! What's the point in going back and falling in love with someone I can never have a normal life with?"

His heart dropped, and he hung his head.

"Normal life," he scoffed. His imagination went spiraling down, thinking about watching her grow old while he remained young. Her hair would lighten, turn into the same silvery white as his own. Her hands would become wrinkly and grey, and, eventually, they'd fall limp in his grasp. Tears filled his eyes as he imagined the way it would feel to bury her. "I can't keep doing this."

But he also knew there was no way he could stay away from her for much longer.

The storm subsided, and the clouds parted just enough for the moon to shine down on Jack, silently judging him as always.

"What do you want?"

No response.

"This is all your fault, you know." Jack pointed his finger accusingly at the moon. He shook his head, "You didn't have to save me from that lake. You could've just… you could've just left me there to die. Why didn't you? What did I do to deserve this? I don't want to live like this anymore!"

His voice echoed, and Jack realized just how loud he was becoming. Not that it mattered, no one could hear him anyway.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

"I have to see her again."

Before his decisiveness fizzled out, he jumped off the power lines, allowing himself to be caught by the wind. Not even thirty seconds later, a secondary force zoomed by, crashing into him. He cried out as he was knocked out of the sky and landed on the hard concrete road.

"What the-" He struggled to prop himself up to look for what had hit him. His heart thudded in his chest when he saw that there was nothing. He clamored to his feet, keeping his staff ready to strike. After a long pause, he jumped back into the air. Shrugging off the strange encounter, he allowed himself to smile at the thought of seeing Rapunzel again.

xxx

Mother Gothel tentatively walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Glancing around, she knelt and picked up the fallen baking tray.

That's all it was, she reassured herself. It just toppled over or something.

But the moment she turned her back to warm up the milk for Rapunzel, there was another clatter.

Whirling around, she only caught a glimpse of the shadowy figure.

"Show yourself!" Gothel demanded in a tight whisper, grabbing the frying pan from the counter.

It's not much of a weapon, she thought. But it's something at least.

"You're looking well," a cold voice said.

In the time it took Gothel to blink, Pitch appeared. She jumped, but relaxed after a moment.

"You look as pasty skinned as ever," she replied.

Pitch rolled his eyes, which were on the verge of gold. Gothel took a deep breath so she wouldn't make another quip, she didn't need to make him mad.

Not considering the last time they had seen each other.

"Why are you here?" she asked, turning back around to pour the warmed milk into Rapunzel's favorite mug.

He tilted his head to the side and gave Gothel a pointed look. "You've gotten lazy with your job."

She paused for a brief moment to roll her eyes. "Did you really come all the way here just to give me a review?"

"Gothel, my dear, I gave you one simple task. And, yes, when you're under-performing, I believe a review is necessary."

Gothel sighed, "I don't have time for this. You gave Rapunzel a nightmare and now she's too scared to be alone. I need to go back upstairs."

He didn't look one bit sorry for scaring the girl. "Jack Frost has been visiting your daughter."

"Jack Frost?" she asked, confused. "Who's Jack Frost?

Pitch knew the name wouldn't ring a bell, so he added, "Also known as Jackson Overland."

Gothel froze, "Jackson? No...he's dead...I saw him fall into the lake!"

"Are you really that surprised? It's impossible to kill these kids. We need to figure out how to get rid of them."

She clenched her jaw. "Leave Rapunzel out of it. She's not the problem."

Pitch laughed, "I actually would disagree with that. I had to pay your precious Punzie a visit just last week to scare her away from him. She was ready to run away with him."

"Why didn't I ever see Jack?" she asked, trying to hide her growing panic. "He couldn't have been visiting that often..."

"You can't see him unless you believe in him. Those are the rules." He rolled his eyes. "And you were so naive to believe you actually killed him.

"I'm not naive!" she snapped.

"My apologies, you've only gone soft," he strode across the room, turning his back as if the conversation was over.

"What do you mean I've gone soft?" she asked, following him. "I have not!"

Pitch was staring at the painting of the blue eyed boy. Gothel had just assumed it was another imaginary friend Rapunzel had dreamed up and forgotten about. The girl was always coming up with strange characters like a red haired archer and a viking who rides dragons.

Gothel hadn't even noticed the resemblance between the painting and the peasant from three hundred years before.

"You let raising that little brat get to you," he replied. "I think it's time to take care of the problem, for good this time. Wouldn't you agree?"

"How?"

He reached down and dipped his fingers in a bright red paint Rapunzel had left out. "Really, that's up to you. I have a backup plan for myself, if you fail. But I have bigger and better things to worry about, so let's say this is a test."

"Do you want me to kill him again?"

Pitch smirked and painted a slash of red across the painted boy's chest. "I'm not going to stop you."

She strode over to locate her dagger, but paused at the sight of Pitch turning back to look at her.

"It might help if you use this." He handed her a crystal dagger. It was beautiful, in its own strange, alien way. The blade gleamed in the moonlight, almost as if it were glowing. "This is made of a crystal forged from the moon. If I'm not mistaken, it's powerful enough to kill even an immortal winter spirit."

Gothel inhaled deeply. "Will I be able to see him now?"

"Yes. He's on his way here now, actually. I believe his intention is to profess his love and ask to stay in the tower with her forever. Make sure he doesn't get the chance."

xxx

The entire tower was silent. Up in Gothel's room, Rapunzel began to wonder what her mother was doing. It felt like it had been a half hour since she had gotten up to make the warm milk. With a small sigh, Rapunzel wrapped her favorite green blanket around her shoulders and climbed out of bed.

Tiptoeing down the stairs, she scanned the dimly lit tower for her mother. She spotted her with her back to the wall, right next to the window. "Mother? What are you doing?"

Gothel's eyes snapped to look at Rapunzel. "How could you, Rapunzel?"

Rapunzel stuttered, "H-how could I what?"

"You let _him_ visit you! Every day! For a _year!_ You let him _bring you things!"_ To emphasize her last point, Gothel flung one of Jack's gifts at Rapunzel: the small snowglobe with the recreation of the lanterns inside. Rapunzel gasped as it shattered on the floor.

"Mother... I'm sorry! I didn't..."

"Go back to your room, Rapunzel," she snapped. She moved to stand by the window, in a position where she wouldn't be visible to anyone outside. In her hand, something flashed.

"What are you doing?" Rapunzel asked, not fully understanding what was about to happen.

"The only thing I can do."

"Rapunzel!"

Rapunzel's eyes darted to look out the window. Jack was flying through the air, headed straight towards the window. She looked back at her mother and noticed the way her grip tightened around the dagger. "Wait… Mother…"

Jack's wild eyes softened as he caught a glimpse of Rapunzel. "Rapunzel!"

"Jack, don't!" she shouted. "Please don't come in!"

His eyebrows furrowed, but he ignored her warning and stepped through. "I'm so sorry, for every-"

"Jack!"

Gothel pulled the blade out of his side. She glared at the winter spirit as he fell to his knees.

Eyes wide and mouth open, Jack stared up at Rapunzel. A single tear slid down his cheek before he collapsed completely.

Rapunzel held her hands over her mouth, blinking back her tears. She shook her head, unable to fathom what had just happened.

Gothel sighed, wiping the silver blood off the dagger. "Go back to your room, Rapunzel. Don't make me say it again!"

"No!" she cried, rushing to Jack's side. She grabbed her hair, pressing it against his strange, silvery wound. "Flower gleam and glow, let your powers-"

"Get away from him!" Gothel grabbed Rapunzel by the arms and yanked her away, clamping her other hand over Rapunzel's mouth to stifle her song. Her hair glowed for the briefest of moments before fading away again. "Don't fight me!"

Rapunzel's screams were muffled, but she began to fight back against her mother, trying to free herself from the woman's iron grip.

"Let her go!" Jack choked. His irises began to glow a bright blue as he glared at the old hag. He blindly grasped for his staff. When he managed to wrap his hands around it, he took a deep breath and aimed at Gothel.

Gothel gasped and clutched at her chest, struggling to breathe.

Jack let out a groan of pain as he struggled to his feet. Breathlessly, he warned, "Stay… stay back!"

Rapunzel froze, staring at her mother. A strange white streak had formed in Gothel's hair, and the woman was shivering. She gasped as Jack looped the crook of his staff around her waist and pulled her close to him. "Wait, Jack. What are you doing?"

Without responding, Jack wrapped his arm tightly around her waist and pulled her to the window. "H-hang on."

"Jack, my mother just stabbed you!" Rapunzel cried, tugging on his hoodie in a desperate attempt to stop him. "Jack!"

"Just believe in me," he whispered. And, with that, he jumped.

Rapunzel squeezed her eyes shut in fear, expecting to feel her stomach drop out while they crashed to the ground. But, instead, she felt the wind pick up. When she opened her eyes, she realized they were flying! She looked up at Jack, unable to believe what was happening. Her smile faded at the sight of his grey, ashen face grimacing from pain.

"Pull on your hair," he ordered. "Get it… get it out of the tower."

She obeyed, tugging her hair as fast as she possibly could until the final feet dropped to the ground, right before Mother Gothel lunged out in an attempt to grab it.

"Rapunzel!" she screamed.

Rapunzel inhaled sharply and looked away, blinking away her tears. She noticed that they were heading directly for a large boulder. "Jack… That's… that's a rock."

"I know," he coughed.

"We're… flying straight towards it." When he didn't reply, she clutched at his hoodie and cried, "Jack!"

"It'll be okay," he replied.

Rapunzel gasped and closed her eyes, preparing for the impact. When none came, she opened her eyes again in confusion. Her heart was panicking in her chest, still convinced death was imminent. But it wasn't. The meadow had disappeared entirely, and they were flying in a forest.

"Where is this?" Rapunzel asked.

Jack let out a wail in response. The wind that had been carrying them slowed to a stop, and they fell out of the sky.

Rapunzel gasped at the sudden cold enveloping her as she landed in a bank of snow.

Jack tumbled even further, skidding across the surface until his back hit the trunk of a tree. He let out a sigh and allowed his eyes to droop shut.

"No, no no!" Rapunzel cried, ignoring the way her feet were going numb and rushing to his side. "Jack, please." She tried to pry his hand away from his wound, but he let out a weak grunt and clutched at it tighter. "I need you to relax… Please, you're only going to make things worse."

When she finally managed to pry his hands away, she gasped. The wound itself was small, and it didn't even appear to have hit any of his vital organs. But from the spot he was bleeding, dark lines spiraled out, covering the bit of torso she could see through the rip. She shook her head in disbelief. Her mother had poisoned the blade?

Deciding to ignore the way his blood was silvery-black, she grabbed her hair and placed it against his wound.

He winced and tried to push it away, but she held it down firmly. Her hands began to tingle-almost like they were burning-from touching his blood, but she hardly noticed. She took a deep breath and began to sing, "Flower gleam and glow, let your powers shine…"

When she had finished the song, and her glow had faded away, she pulled it away to examine the wound.

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

It was still there.

"No… no! Why didn't it work?" she gasped. Deciding to try again, she began to sing, "Flowergleamandglow,letyourpowersshine,maketheclockreverse…" Once again, the wound was still there. "No, why is this happening? Jack!"

Jack let out the softest noise in response, eyes completely shut. He began to grow still in her arms. She clutched at his hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Please! Jack! Don't go, stay with me! Please!"

His hand fell limp and dropped to the ground.

"Don't leave me…"


	8. Day One

Voices echoed around in Jack's head. He couldn't make out what they were saying, as they kept overlapping and blending together, preventing a cohesive sentence from forming. He whimpered as the voices grew louder, overlapping and creating one rushing noise, building up pressure in his head until he felt like he was going to burst.

And the pressure relieved. The weight lifted off him. The pain in his side became agonizingly noticeable yet seemed to be subsiding.

He forced his eyes open, expecting to see the bright white light of the afterlife. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he instead saw a long stream of glowing gold.

Slowly, his vision sharpened, and he realized that the glowing gold was in fact Rapunzel's hair.

She was singing something, and tears were streaming down her cheeks.

Jack nodded slowly, and then he stopped. "What the hell?"

Rapunzel's eyes snapped open, and she looked up at him.

"What the-WHY IS YOUR HAIR GLOWING?" he demanded.

She looked down at his side and then back up at him, almost with an angry expression. "...you were just dead! WHY AREN'T YOU DEAD?"

The glow had faded, leaving Rapunzel with her normal blonde locks, but the image was ingrained in Jack's mind. Trying to reign back the hysterics, he repeated, " _Why_ was your _hair_ _GLOWING_?"

They stared at each other in shock, each too distressed to answer the other's question. The silence was only broken by Jack letting out a small moan. Where the wound had been, a strange prickling sensation replaced the pain. Jack looked down and watched as small swirls of frost covered the injury. He shivered as the ice began to melt.

The strange black marks faded away, and Jack ran his fingers over the newly smooth skin. The only indication of his injury was the blood staining his hoodie and a grey scar.

After a long silence, Rapunzel asked in her softest voice, "Does that normally happen? D-do you have your own special healing process?"

He rubbed the back of his neck and avoided her gaze. Goosebumps formed along his arms as he remembered the last time he had been fatally injured. He shrugged, "To be honest, I've never gotten hurt like this before."

Her eyes remained fixed on the small scar, her eyes squinting slightly in suspicion.

Jack looked at her and took a calming breath. "Why was your hair glowing, Rapunzel?"

"I… uh…" She grasped at a lock of her hair, her eyes darting around everywhere other than Jack.

"Why. Was. Your. Hair. Glowing?" He tried very hard to keep his tone calm, but with everything else, he could feel himself slipping back into hysterics.

"Your blood is silver! That's pretty weird too!" Rapunzel argued.

"Okay, yeah, but it doesn't glow!"

"...your eyes do…" she mumbled.

Jack reached forward and took her hands, ducking his head in an attempt to get her to look at him. "Rapunzel. Please, just tell me."

She closed her eyes and sighed. "Okay. So… when I was a baby, or I guess a toddler, I went off exploring on my own. I… don't remember exactly, but I can vaguely remember finding this flower. It was golden, and it was really pretty, so I took it and put it in my hair."

"As you do." Jack nodded very seriously.

Despite herself, Rapunzel smiled before continuing. "But then I found this sprig of poisonous berries. And I didn't know any better, so I ate them. And… well, I died."

Jack's smile vanished, and he squeezed her hands. "You… died?"

She nodded. "The flower… It had magical abilities. There was a legend about it, according to my mother. It grew from a single drop of sunlight that fell from the heavens one day. And it could heal the sick and injured. Or… keep someone young and healthy forever. Somehow, because I was wearing it when I died, its power transferred into me… into my hair."

"So… now it glows?"

"When I use its power, yes."

Snow began to fall around them, dancing to the ground in graceful circles. Rapunzel shivered and pulled her hands free of his, wrapping her arms around herself.

"Is that why you were so afraid to leave the tower?"

Rapunzel winced and nodded. "My mother… She always would tell me about how dangerous it was outside the meadow. And if I were to leave, someone would kidnap me and use me for my power. Once she discovered what my hair could do, she locked me up in the tower. And it's kept us alive ever since."

"What do you mean by kept you alive? You're… you're only seventeen."

Burying her face in her hands, Rapunzel mumbled, "I'm threehundredandseventeenyears old."

Jack sighed and took ahold of her hands again, "Say that again?"

She sighed, "I'm three hundred and seventeen years old. We've… _I've_ lived in that tower for three centuries now."

"...you're…" a smile grew on Jack's lips. "You mean you aren't mortal?"

"As long as I have magical hair, I assume I'm not," Rapunzel forced a small laugh.

"All this time… I was so afraid that I'd have to watch you grow old without me…" Surprising even himself, Jack pulled Rapunzel into a tight hug. She buried his head into his chest. After a moment, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me before? I understand why that wasn't part of your original introduction… But was there some reason you didn't want me to know?"

Quietly, she answered, "My mother always warned me that if anyone ever found out about my gift, they'd kidnap me. And… I didn't think you would ever do that to me, but…"

With a chuckle, Jack replied, "Well, I didn't kidnap you _because_ of your hair."

She giggled and cozied up even closer to him.

"You know… We should probably get out of here," he murmured, realizing that Gothel could appear at any moment to get her daughter back.

"That'd probably be best."

When he attempted to stand, however, the cold set in, and his head spun like a top. Shivering, he knelt back down.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just a bit dizzy." He tried to laugh, but it came out forced and awkward. "I've had a rough day, ya know."

"If you lean on me, do you think you could walk?" she suggested.

"Yes, but not very far." Jack squinted, mentally calculating how far a walk it'd be to find his tree. "There's a specific tree I sleep in. I know it won't be comfortable, but it's a safe place. It's invisible to anyone who doesn't know that it's there."

"How is that possible?"

"I think because it's my "hideout", it's guarded by some weird moon magic," Jack answered with a shrug. "But… do you think that'd be okay? Just for one night?"

Rapunzel nodded.

By the time they made it to the clearing where the tree stood, both Jack and Rapunzel were ready to pass out. They stumbled over to it. As Jack prepared to climb the tree, Rapunzel merely knelt down in the snow and set her blanket down as a barrier. She wrapped her long locks around herself and then curled up on her side.

"You want to sleep in the snow?" he asked.

"Mhmmmm," she replied, already almost asleep.

Jack took a deep breath and raised his hand, concentrating as hard as he could. Slowly, but surely, the snow began to shift, moving away from Rapunzel and creating a ring of grass around her. He nodded but couldn't quite shake his worries. His stomach twisted remembering the countless times he'd flown down to see if he could help a human find shelter only to discover their skin was already a deathly blue. He knelt beside her. "I'm going to sleep on the ground with you, okay?"

"Okay," she breathed.

Jack nodded before lying down on his side. After a moment, he wrapped his arms around her. In response, she rolled over and buried her face in his chest. As he began to drift off, he noticed the way her hair was glowing faintly. Not nearly as bright as when she was singing, but just enough he could see. Immediately, her body felt comfortably warmer.

Now reassured that Rapunzel would not freeze to death in the night, Jack finally fell asleep.

xxx

It was chillier than Rapunzel expected when she woke up. She sighed to herself, wondering if she had forgotten to close her skylight once again. Too tired to bother, she grabbed at her blanket to snuggle under it.

Her eyes snapped open. She shrieked and pushed Jack away from her, scrambling away as best as she could.

Jack sat up, trying to force his heavy eyelids to open. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Rapunzel with a worried expression.

She looked around at the snow-draped forest, slowly remembering where she was and why.

"Are you all right?" Jack asked, his voice hoarse from sleep.

After a moment, she nodded and cringed. "I'm sorry I woke you up like that."

"It's okay," he chuckled. Noticing her shivers, he lifted her blanket off the ground and helped wrap it around her shoulders. "I imagine it's shocking to wake up in a cold forest after three centuries of having a nice bed."

Even though she knew it was a joke, Rapunzel felt a twinge of guilt in her chest thinking about Jack sleeping in a tree for three hundred years. She hugged her knees to her chest and hugged the blanket even tighter.

"We should go into town," Jack suggested, reaching out and pulling some stray leaves out of her hair. "We can get you some warm clothes, and something to eat?"

She nodded. With a frown, she asked, "What about my hair?"

Without hesitation, he shifted so he was sitting behind her and began to gather her hair into sections. "Honestly, even in a braid it's still going to be too long… I guess the first thing we should do is find some scissors, and I can cut it for you," he mused, beginning to weave the sections together.

"Wait, what? No!" she gasped, trying to rip her hair away from him. "We can't cut it!"

"Why not?"

She turned to look at him with big, sad eyes. "When it gets cut, it turns brown and loses its power."

Jack sighed and laughed, "That is ridiculously inconvenient. Is it still growing?"

She nodded.

"Holy shit," he laughed, turning her back so he could continue braiding. "Your hair is going to wrap around the entire planet eventually."

After several minutes of Jack quietly plaiting her hair, Rapunzel asked, "How do you know how to braid hair?"

"You taught me, remember?"

She frowned and thought back over the past year. "No, I didn't."

"Yeah, you definitely did," he argued, grabbing a nearby stick to temporarily pin her hair in place. "I used to braid your hair all the time. And then…" He trailed off. A vague memory of plaiting daisies into an auburn braid danced in his mind.

"And then?"

"...I don't know," he shrugged, shaking his head and continuing his work. "But I'm pretty sure you did."

After he had masterfully created a thick braid that only trailed a few feet behind her, Jack and Rapunzel headed into town. Floating alongside her, he guided her through the streets until they found a clothing store.

In the changing room, Rapunzel pressed her back against the wall, eyes wide.

"Are you okay?" Jack asked gently.

"Everything is so much different than I expected," she replied weakly.

"In a bad way?"

She smiled, but it didn't hide the anxiety in her eyes. "No, no. It's just… I had a picture in my head of this little village… I don't know. It was silly."

"It's not silly," he reassured her. "You get to breathe for a second in here, okay?"

Rapunzel laughed, trying to relieve some of her stress through it. She turned to look at herself in the mirror, examining her torn green nightgown. She sighed and looked at Jack expectantly. "So, what do normal people wear?"

Jack ran a hand through his hair and offered a nervous grin.

Despite his lack of confidence, Jack proved himself to be rather decent at selecting clothes and pairing things together for Rapunzel. After choosing four outfits and a new nightgown, Rapunzel let out a small sigh of relief. Now clothed in a warm sweater over a dress and leggings, Rapunzel gathered her courage and headed back outside.

"Now, in this building, you can get something to eat," Jack explained, opening the door for her to enter the tiny cafe. "It's not too different from paying for the clothes, it's just you'll have to wait a moment for it to be ready."

"Do you want anything?" Rapunzel asked, quietly to avoid attention.

"No," he smiled and pinched her cheek affectionately. "Are you okay if I leave for a few minutes? I promise I'll come back before you're done eating."

She furrowed her eyebrows in worry.

"I'll be quick as a bunny," Jack whispered. "Just put the earbuds in after you order, and don't talk to anyone unless you feel safe."

Rapunzel sat at the window, staring out at the snow-covered town. She held her hazelnut coffee tightly, silently wishing Jack would come back already. When he finally did, she noticed he had something resting on his shoulder. Her eyes lit up.

"Here you go," Jack smiled, setting a blue Pascal on the table. The chameleon instantly changed to a lavender before crawling up Rapunzel's arm onto her shoulder.

"I'm so happy to see you," she whispered, leaning her head down to nuzzle him with her cheek. She beamed at Jack, "Thank you for finding him."

"It was nothing," he shrugged. "For once he was pretty easy to find." He smiled at the chameleon. "So, how did ordering go?"

Rapunzel shrugged and nodded. Hiding her mouth with her mug, she whispered, "So what are we going to do now?"

"Anything you'd like."

xxx

"This isn't what I was expecting," Jack mused, floating up to look at the books on the top shelf.

"It's quiet in here," she replied, standing on her tiptoes to look at a few books. "It's nice."

He shrugged and nodded. Floating back down so he could look her in the eyes, he said, "I'm really sorry it's been so overwhelming. I hope… I hope you're still happy to be out here."

Rapunzel offered a small smile. "Of course I'm happy. It's all so wonderful, it's just a lot to handle all at once. But, I promise I'm doing just fine."

"Good," he nodded.

After Rapunzel found a book that interested her, she and Jack snuggled up in a small reading nook in the back. Rapunzel rested her back against his chest, and he ended up wrapping his arms around her waist and resting his chin on her head.

Rapunzel leaned back and closed her eyes, listening to Jack's slow heartbeat while she waited for him to finish reading the page. He squinted at the words, mouthing them to himself. After a while, he noticed she was waiting for him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "You don't have to wait for me."

"I don't mind," she replied. "It's nice to just sit in the quiet."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "I don't know, it's really hard for me to read… well, sometimes. I don't know. The words keep getting jumbled together, and it's giving me a headache."

"We don't have to keep reading then. We could-"

"Everything okay?"

Rapunzel jumped. She looked up at the stranger addressing her and forced a laugh, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why?"

"You looked a little upset, I don't know," the man shrugged. "Just thought I might check up on you."

She blushed and pushed back a loose strand of hair. "Thank you, but I'm okay. I was just thinking."

"Well, okay," he shrugged and grinned. "Let me know if you need anything."

After the stranger walked away, Rapunzel whispered, "Does he work here? Do you know?"

"That's Flynn. He volunteers here," Jack shrugged, suddenly pretending to be very interested in the book jacket. "He reads to the kids every Saturday."

"That's really sweet," she smiled, looking in the direction he had wandered off to.

"It started as a community service thing, I think. Like instead of shipping him off to jail."

Her eyes widened. "Jail?"

"Yeah, he was a thief for a while. I may or may not have helped him get away with it a few times," he laughed awkwardly. Before she could question him further, he asked, "Are you hungry? I know a great place for dinner!"

Rapunzel glanced down at Pascal, who had turned a delicious shade of cupcake pink. She nodded. "I could use some food..."

xxx

When the sun finally began to dip below the horizon, Jack suggested they find a place to sleep for the night.

As he stood up, a sudden chill spread out from his heart all the way to his fingertips and toes. For a brief moment, his vision disappeared entirely. He let out a strained gasp and blindly grasped for anything to hold on to. Rapunzel caught him before he collapsed entirely.

"Jack? What's wrong?" she asked.

As quickly as the sensation had started, it stopped. Jack inhaled deeply, the ability to breathe returning. "I… I just… Head rush, I guess," he shrugged and plastered on a smile to reassure her. "I'm sorry."

Jack winced as he realized he forgot to tell her to ask for a two-bed room. He sighed and tugged his hoodie and shirt off, preparing himself to fold it into a pillow.

Rapunzel turned around and her face immediately turned bright pink. He hadn't noticed her wide-eyed stare, so she quickly turned back around. Clearing her throat, she asked, "Do you remember which bag my nightgown is in?"

"Yep!" he replied, reaching over and pulling out the short blue gown. He tossed it to her and respectfully turned away so she could slip into it.

After slipping the gown over her head, she turned to the mirror and examined herself. The skirt was shorter than any she'd worn before, but she liked the neckline and soft, short sleeves a lot. She smiled and began to untie her hair from the braid.

"Do you need help?" Jack asked.

"Yes, please."

He stood behind her and began to untwist her hair, gently finger-combing it as he went.

Something fluttered in her chest seeing him in the mirror with her. Her blue dress matched the color of his eyes, making it seem as if they were a matching pair. She couldn't help but smile at the thought.

With her hair untangled and free, she climbed into the bed. Despite herself, she let out a huge sigh as she sank into the comfortable mattress. She giggled and fell back, resting her head on the softest pillow she had ever felt in her life.

Jack laughed, "So I guess it's to your standards?"

"This is so much better than anything I could've expected!"

"I'm really happy to hear that." He smiled at her once again before sinking to the ground.

She cocked her head to the side and frowned. "What are you doing?"

He looked up at her, eyes wide, "I'm… getting ready to sleep?"

"Why aren't you sleeping in the bed?" she asked.

"I… I don't know," he could feel the frost slowly spiraling across the ground. He tried to suppress it, not wanting to ruin the carpet, but he couldn't help it. "I just assumed…"

"We used your money to pay for this," she cried, acting as if Jack were the foolish one. "Why should you have to sleep on the floor?"

"So… you want us to share the bed?" he asked, carefully.

"I mean, there's room. I don't think I take up that much space."

He chuckled, "No, just your hair."

"If you sleep on the floor, I'll be up all night feeling guilty," she declared. Despite her attempt at being serious, she couldn't fight back her smile as she joked. "So, by sleeping on the floor, you are being selfish. Don't try to argue with me, for once you will definitely lose."

"Wow, Sunshine," he grinned, grabbing the comforter so he could slip under it. "One day outside and you're already getting a lil attitude."

"What can I say? I'm jaded and worldly now," she replied, deepening her voice in an attempt to mimic him.

His chest felt as if it were a balloon expanding as he watched her giggle at her own jokes. It had barely been a day, and she was already blossoming into the incredible, happy, confident person he always knew she could be.

She rolled over, smiling at him. "How are you doing?"

"Me?"

"Yes, you!"

"I'm… I'm doing fine," Jack stammered. "Why wouldn't I?"

"Well, about twenty-four hours ago, my mother stabbed you in the kidney. And you died in my arms. So…"

He scoffed, "You think a little death is going to hurt me?"

She raised an eyebrow skeptically and lifted the comforter so she could see his side. She frowned at the scar, noticing it was a darker grey than it had been before. Without thinking, she brushed her fingers over the skin.

Jack recoiled in pain, pressing his hand over the mark and turning away from her.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she gasped.

He tried to laugh, but could only manage a groan. He took a few breaths, trying to ease the chilling pain spreading from his stomach. "I'm great!"

"Are you still hurt?" she whispered.

"Don't worry," he shrugged it off. "The life-threatening part was healed, I'm sure. I just need a little more time to fully recover, that's all." Aware of Rapunzel's tendency of not letting things go, he said, "Resting will help, I'm sure. So, goodnight Sunshine. Sweet dreams."

"...goodnight, Jack."


End file.
